Celebrating Romanian Embroidered Blouse Day

On the same day with “Sânzienele” we are celebrating something very special: the Romanian embroidered blouse. And I couldn’t celebrate it without my dear blouse from high school years.

I know, it’s been a while since then but it’s very dear to me and I have many beautiful memories from that time. It is very special because it’s black (usually it’s white or cream-coloured). Then, I was searching for something to stand out (high school… duh!) and when I saw it, I fell in love.

This blouse’s origins are told to be in Cucuteni civilization where the peasant women started to embroider their hemp blouses with different signs that were meant to protect them from bad energies. And it evolved ever since. They started to make these blouses more loose using proper materials for summer season and some signs became symbols for different areas of the country.

Some famous painters have immortalized Romanian Embroidered blouse on the canvas (Nicolae Grigorescu with several painting with this theme, Theodor Aman, Amadeo Preziosi that has many paintings with it, Henry Matisse and his paintings “Le blouse roumanie) and photographers caught it on the film strips.

“Ia” (the name of the Romanian blouse) is still reinterpreted in and outside the country. Its image can be found on international fashion shows. I think everybody saw Adele in that gorgeous blouse of Tom Ford which was Romanian inspired.

In the past “ia” was worn as a part of our national costume but now it’s versatile and I know it would look good on you.

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Hey, guys!

I’m Andreea and I’ll be your romanian local guide.

This blog is for foreigners who want to discover Romania. Curious Romanians are also welcome. So, if you want to know where to get a good coffee, to learn about Romanian traditions or you’re just curious about the lifestyle here, follow ChiqueRomania and become a part of the journey.